A Woman's World?
by spooksfan08
Summary: Set post 8.3 Ruth doesn't know where she stands with anything anymore. Stuck in a safe house unsure of where her life is headed and with Jo and Harry's words ringing in her ears can a visit from Ros make her see where she belongs? Prequel to my other stories - set before Friends Reunited.


**Disclaimer I do not own Spooks. Everything related to Spooks belongs to BBC Television and Kudos. No copyright infringement intended or should be inferred.**

**A Woman's World?**

Ros pulled her leather jacket closer to her as she walked along the quiet South London street. The rain had stopped but the biting wind chilled her as she walked. Sighing heavily she wondered why she was where she was and what she was actually doing. _Because it is the right thing to do. Because Malcolm and Jo are right. _She knew she had the right address, there weren't that many safe houses in London that were currently home to former Intel Analysts that had faked their own deaths three years earlier. Schooling her face into the familiar Ice Queen expression she knew intimidated most people she marched up the front steps.

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Ruth smiled slightly as she stared at the box of tea bags on the counter. She knew Harry had made sure the cupboard was well stocked before she had moved in, what she hadn't expected was her favourite brand of tea bags and some chocolate that he knew she wouldn't have been able to get in Cyprus would be in the fridge waiting for her.

"Oh Harry." She smiled slightly beofre returning to the abandoned kettle just as the door bell rang.

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"Ruth."

"Ros?" Ruth stepped back and ushered the blonde into the house. "Is there a problem?"

Ros pushed a paper coffee cup into her hand as she took the lip of her own.

"Would I be here if it wasn't?"

Ruth narrowed her eyes before taking the cup from the Section Chief. She knew Ros was well aware she had never drunk coffee in her life, let alone expensive coffee from over priced American coffee houses but she took the peace offering for what it was. Warily she took a sip, her eyes never leaving the thin blonde woman.

"Ros? What is it? Actually why are you here?"

"Harry needs you."

"Excuse me?" Ruth could feel her heart beating twenty times faster in her chest. She had only heard Harry say that to her once. Danny's funeral had been one of the worst days of her life but she knew then she would never forget the way he leant closer to her and almost whispered that he needed her.

"You know he does." Ros took a sip of her own drink before looking around the ground floor flat. "Settled in?"

"No."

"Looks like it too." Ruth narrowed her eyes as Ros stared at the minimalist furniture around her.

"I've been in the UK a week and three days. In that time my partner was murdered, my step son taken back to Cyprus and my throat was almost cut."

"And you blame Harry."

"No." Ruth shook her head, her drink long forgotten.

"Good, because it isn't his fault." Ros turned her attention back to her. "You do know where Harry is? Right now I mean?"

"No." Ruth shook her head again. "I haven't seen him today." She lied as Ros raised her eyebrows. The last thing she was going to do was mention the fact she had argued with Harry on the bridge. She held Ros' gaze determined that the Section Chief wouldn't see the scared bookish Ruth of three years earlier. Ruth had hardened to the world. Times had changed.

"He's gone to see the Home Secretary. He intends to ask him to clear your name. He's going to tell him what he told the team today. That you are still part of Section D. That for the last three years and four months you had been working on a black op. That was why Zaf and Adam helped you to fake your death. As the new girl at the time I was used to give you away of getting out of the UK without being missed."

Ruth closed her eyes for a moment. She knew Harry was capable of lying but even a black op had a paper trail, however tenuous.

"Before you ask Malcolm." Ros smiled slightly. "He created the situation on paper that makes Harry's story plausable."

"Right." Ruth stared at the floor.

"So you are coming back?" Ros waited for a reponse. "

"That place has ripped my life from under my feet twice. Harry has."

Ros rolled her eyes before dumping what was left in her cup down the sink.

"Oh please." Ros rolled her eyes. "Come back or don't come back. That's your decison but we both know none of this is Harry's fault. He is currently lying through his teeth for you. He is currently telling Blake that Mani kidnapped you and him when a black op you were working on was about to blow his cover. That Lucas saved your life after it became clear you are not a traitor and the existance of a black op you, Harry and Malcolm were working on for years came to light. SO don't you dare pull that one on me. None of this is Harry's fault. It is mine. And every bloody day I've had to go into work seeing the damage I caused."

"Is this you saying you are sorry?" Ruth smiled slightly as Ros shot her a death glare.

"No."

"Sounds like it."

"Bloody Hell Ruth!" Ros shook her head and fough the start of a smile at the corner of her lips. "Mace."

Ruth's eyes immediately clouded over.

"Where is he? I need to know in case I walk into him in Asda."

Ros laughed as she pictured the overweight MI6 man pushing a shopping trolley around the local supermarket. It wasn't a chore she ever thought he had done for himself.

"Last I heard he was disgraced, set to the Embassy in Saudi."

"Bloody Hell."

"You are not going to walk into him in Thames House or Tesco." Ros watched as Ruth smiled slightly. She had a feeling she was winning the argument.

"Good." Ruth met her eye. "That's something at least."

"It is."

"Jo and Harry have said they want me to come back." Ruth shrugged. "What did you mean? The damage?"

"Open your eyes Ruth. For an intelligent woman you are unbelievably thick at times."

"Did you come here to insult me or what?"

"Oh give me a break. I've got three years of insults to catch up on." Ros deadpanned as Ruth rolled her eyes. "It's obvious isn't it? Harry jsut doesn't work without you. I've been there for years and he hasn't so much as looked at another woman. Not that any of us know. You know what the gossip in that place is like, we'd know."

"Maybe." Ruth looked at the floor.

"It's you Ruth, it always was."

"Ros." Ruth looked away, aware that she was blushing. "Harry told me my job and my status could be back, that's all."

"Well? What else did you expect? He's not stupid. Look, the fact of the matter is, we are short staffed. We need an Intel Analyst who can slot into the team and deal with the kids there."

"Kids?"

"Jo and Tariq." Ros stated flatly.

"Jo's changed."

"She's been through Hell. Having you back may help, you may be able to provide a little bit of stability."

"Oh."

"So. It isn't just Harry that wants you back. Job is yours. You know that." Ros pushed herself away from the kitchen counter. "Think about it. I'll let myself out." Ruth nodded as the blonde Section Chief walk away. The front door clicked closed as Ruth picked up the phone. She knew what she had to do, pressing in the number she already knew by heart she waited for the call to connect.

"Harry." She breathed as she heard his voice on the other end of the phone. Some of her anger towards him had abated since Ros had stepped over her doorstep. She smiled slightly. "Can I start tomorrow?"

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A/N Just a one shot. Leads in to my older story Status or can be read alongside it. And you all thought it was Jo on the steps outside the Royal Albert Hall that convinced her to come back! Please review.


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